In The Beginning
by Em'sPride
Summary: REPOSTED - For mistakes. Before Joan met God, but after the Girardi's moved to Arcadia. Read and Review. I own nothing!
1. First Day Jitters

REPOSTED FOR MAJOR MISTAKES

OK. I wrote this because it disturbed me when the JoA series started 3 months after the Girardi's moved to Arcadia. So I made that period of time up for you entertainment! It's not too good, but I might redo it later. I just want to hear your view on it, and if I should keep going, and also if I should redo the chapter again. I had to do it really quick, before school, so forgive me...please?  
By the way I own nothing. Not the characters, not the places and not anything else.  
Anyway, here we go...

Looking out of the window, Joan knew it was going to be a bad day. The first day of school was always daunting enough. Finding classes, friends and the bathroom. All of it was daunting.

But it was worse this year. A brand new school. It was going to be scary in weird. Scary for the obvious reasons, but weird, because it would be the first day she would have to go to high school without her older brother, Kevin. Everything had changed since they moved.

Their new house was so strange and foreign. Low light switches, ramps, adapted staircases and special toilets. It made her feel so sad inside…

But she couldn't let that get to her today. Arcadia High; it seemed so not real. She had already seen the school when they first drove in town. It looked OK. But it wasn't right. The Girardi's should be in Arizona, watching Kevin play baseball on the TV. Joan guessed it happened for a reason, but she wasn't sure of that reason.

Joan snapped out of her daydream when she heard her mum toot the horn. Off to school she thought. And off she went.

PLEASE R&R. IT IS REALLY SATISFYING


	2. Not Off To School

Kevin watched his siblings walk out of the door from his bedroom window. What he would give to go back to school. He often thought that if he was less of a jerk in high school, he might not have been punished like he had. He hated to think about what was happening to him. He would never walk again, spand a day without taking any pills and he doubted he'd ever have another girlfriend. He also knew that molst people who were injured at his age didn't live much past fifty. That gave him thirty years. Just thirty...

Life was too hard for him at the moment. He didn't want to get up; it was too difficult, and he had no reason to get up. He decided he was just going to lie there for the entire day. He did'nt mind if he went crazy, he just wanted to be left alone.

Kevin slowly drifted to sleep, but much to his dismay, Helen woke him up just a few hours later.

"I think it's time to get up," she said firmly, yet pityingly.  
Kevin just gave a grunt, and pulled the covers off his head. Helen didn't try any more. She thought he could lie in for today, after all, they had only been in Arcadia for a few days. He was probably still adjusting. She exited the room quietly, and went into her own room.

She lay down on her bed and shut her eyes. Before se knew it, she was burying her face in the pillow, crying her eyes out. She wasn't sure why she was crying, but she never was these days. She put it down to the stressful move. The moving trucks had been late, and they hit peak hour traffic going through the cities. Then the arrived to their new house, only to discover that the people they had hired to adapt the house for Kevin, were running behind schedule, so they had to leave Kevin downstairs in the lounge room for the first night.

Helen dried her tears. She hoped Kevin hadn't heard her; she wasn't sure if he'd take it too well. She peaked back inot Kevin's room, thankful to discover he was still asleep. She ventured down stairs, amazed to find that it was already two o'clock. She must have been crying for hours!

She began to get her ingredients out for tea. She was going to make Kev's favourite; chicken drumsticks. 


	3. A Call Before Tea

Joan and Luke arrived home at about quarter past three that afternoon. They entered the room and smelt the intoxicating aromas of baked chicken. It was to die for. Helen greeted them with a batch of fresh home-made biscuits. She questioned the kids on how their day was.

Joan told her mother about how she had met two girls who seemed really nice, Elyse and Sophie. Luke had already made a close friend in some guy named Friedman. They already had plans for what they were going to do for their chemistry assignment. Joan then asked her mother about Kevin.

Helen's face went slightly sad.

"He hasn't even gotten out of bed today," she muttered.

Joan and Luke looked at each other and sighed. They knew how stubborn their brother was. Helen quickly changed the subject by asking Joan to check the oven.

Luke quietly went upstairs to his room. He peaked into his brother's room and saw he was still fast asleep. Luke hated his life at the moment. He had left the town he had grown up in, left the close friends he had created, but he also felt as though he had lost a brother. That was the worst thing.

Joan wasn't far behind Luke in coming up the stairs. She went straight to her room and dialed her best friend from Arizona's number-she knew it off by heart.

Kayla picked up the phone quickly. When she heard Joan's voice she screamed 'Joany!' Joan was glad that her best friend was still the same crazy, unique person she had always been. They talked for and hour and a half, then Helen called down her children. Will had called to tell his family he had to work late that night, as the police department was an absolute disgrace when he arrived.

Sorry it's so short. I had a severe case of writers block. 


	4. Brother Helping Brother

Joan ran downstairs without a delay, but Luke stopped in Kevin's room, to wake him up for tea. He gently shook Kevin's shoulder until he began to stir. He slowly opened his red eyes. Luke soon realised that he must have been crying not so long ago.

"What's wrong?" asked Luke.

"Nothing," said Kevin groggily.

"C'mon Kev," persisted Luke.

"Drop it!"

"Ok, fine. It's time for tea."

"I'm not eating," said Kevin in the same stubborn way he always did.

"What have you eaten today?" questioned Luke.

"A glass of water and a biscuit," replied Kevin.

"Like that's going to fill you up."

"Give me one good reason for me to come down. Just one. 'Cause I have one for not going down-I am never going to be anything. I will never be a sports star, I will never get a girlfriend, and, fo the moment, I will never go downstairs!" exclaimed Kevin.

Luke was rather taken back by his outburst, but persisted in convincing him to come downstairs.

"One- you have a loving family downstairs. Two- you cannot stay in bed because you want to wallow in your own self-pity, that's just selfish! And three- I want you to come down. I miss you," stated Luke very truthfully.

This time Kevin was in shock. No one had really said anything so sincerely in a long time. He gave in and sat up, preparing himself to get up. He reached up to the trapeze that lingered above his head. He hated using it, but there was no way of avoiding it.

It took him aa while, but with Luke's help, he was finally in his chair. He knew it would take him awhile to be able to get out of bed with limited difficulty, so he was happy when Luke assisted Kevin's lifeless legs into the chair.

It took them almost ten minutes for them to get downstairs, but Luke didn't ask Kevin to go faster, as he was happy he even agreed to come downstairs. Helen didn't hide her joy when she saw Kevin roll into the kitchen. She immediately perked up, and fussed over Kevin's overloaded plate, saying it wasn't enough. The family began to tuck into the baked dinner, when Will arrived home. He joined the table, helping himself to chicken and vegetables. Joan, Helen, Luke and Kevin all noticed how tired Will looked, but they knew how he stressed in his old position in the police department at his old precinct, so no one questioned him.

Kevin ate just a mouthful of chicken, and a piece of broccoli before he announced he was going to head upstairs. He never realised how much getting out of bed used up hi energy. Before he had completely left the table, Helen reminded him of his physiotherapy session with his new doctor the next day. Kevin groaned audibly. He wasn't planning on doing anything in the morning. 


	5. What To Wear

The next day, Joan and Will had gone by the time Kevin had gotten up. He was feeling a bit better however Luke wasn't feeling well, so he stayed at home. Kevin got up and into his wheelchair before his mother entered the room. She leaned over to kiss him good morning, but quickly pulled away. He smelt awful. Kevin sheepishly admitted he hadn't changed clothes, nor had a shower, in four days. Helen ordered him to have one ASAP, and find dome fresh clothes. As Kevin looked through his wardrobe, he noticed that he had virtually nothing to wear in public. He had a few daggy shirts, and about five pairs of pants, but three were too difficult to get on, and the others were torn. The rest of his clothes were sporting uniforms, and supporters gear. That was all he ever used to wear. He hadn't actually ever gone out to anywhere other then the hospital since the accident.

He scanned all of his suitable clothing, eventually picking out a plain red t-shirt, and an old pair of pants. He struggled into the shower, and then struggled to get dressed, and then struggled downstairs, where he met his mother waiting for him in the kitchen.

"Your new doctors' name is Dr. Martha Brown. She just called. She said if we wanted, we could go into the clinic and hour earlier. One of her other patients cancelled. I said OK, so we have to leave, well, now. I hope that's alright with you," said Helen looking into her sons' dark eyes.

Kevin shrugged indifferently. He wasn't very hungry anyway. Doctors always made him feel nauseous. He was surprised that he did, as he had been around scores of doctors lately.

The two boarded the car, quite smoothly, and within fifteen minutes, they were situated in Arcadia's Children and Young Adult Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre.

Helen and Kevin entered the clinic. It was still early, but there were already about a dozen patients waiting. Some were in wheelchairs, like Kevin, some were holding thin white sticks, and two were waving their hands about furiously; Kevin presumed they were deaf.

It wasn't long before Kevin was called by the receptionist. He pushed himself over to the counter.

"Hi, I'm Lindy," said Lindy, the receptionist, "Is this your first time at Acayap R.C.?"

Kevin looked at the woman. He had no idea what she was going on about. Lindy laughed, and exclaimed, "I'm guessing yes, seeing as you don't know what I'm raving on about! Acayap R.C. is the name we give out office. See, ACAYAPRC, 'A'rcadia 'C'hildren 'A'nd 'Y'oung 'A'dult 'P'hysiotherapy and 'R'ehabilitation 'C'entre. It's kinda like a nick name."

Kevin looked at Lindy hard, and tried to figure out what kind of drugs she was on, but before he made a decision, his chair was rolling along the corridor, toward a door that said Martha Brown. 


	6. Go On, Pity Me

Kevin tilted his head back, and saw an attractive middle-aged woman behind him, pushing his wheelchair.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Kevin rudely.

The lady replied just as kindly, "Hello, I'm Dr. Brown. I'm guessing you're Kevin."

"Yeah," said Kevin.

"Phew! That's good. It would have been a nasty shock for me if you were Tim Stewart, hey? I should really ask people who they before I take them to my office, I don't think you'd like to be pushed around by someone who wasn't your doctor." said Dr. Brown, with a hint of cheekiness in her voice.

"I don't like to be pushed at all," said Kevin bitterly.

Dr. Brown frowned slightly, but stopped as they were already in her examination room.

"So Kevin," started the doctor after he was lying on her hard exam table, "tell me about yourself."

"what do you want to know?" enquired Kevin.

"Well, tell me about school, aspirations, achievements, family, friends, anything like that."

Kevin sighed. He knew what he was about to say would sound pitiful.

"Well, I went to school in Arizona. I live with my brother, sister and parents. I played heaps sport and stuff. I was named in the Arizona state baseball team at the end of senior year, just before I was in the car accident with my best friend, Andy. I soon found out who my real friends were, and I realised I had none."

Kevin could feel hot tears spring to his eyes. God, he hated his life. 


	7. Well, They'll Find Out Sometime

Joan was at school that day, sitting through a particularly bad English lesson. She was thankful that both Sophie and Elyse were in her class. Mrs. Lawson was going insane at the class that day. She had made them do a spelling test, which Joan hadn't done since year 6. Then she gave them a lecture on one of the most boring topics in the world...economics.

Joan was happy to survive half the class without being called upon, either to be punished, or humiliated. But Joan should have realised her luck had run out. The teacher handed around sheets of paper. Joan glanced down at hers, and gave a loud groan. It was an assignment. On her second day at a new school, she got an assignment.

"Joan Girardi, what on earth is wrong?" asked the fiery teacher.

"Nothing miss," said Joan as politely as she could

"It doesn't sound like nothing. Now tell me, are you dying a painful death?"

"No, miss,"

"Have you been told your one true love has died?"

"No miss,"

"Then quite frankly, I don't understand what the problem is, so I'm giving you a detention. That's for disrupting my class."

Joan opened her mouth to protest, but Elyse turned around and shook her head very seriously. So Joan sat back for the rest of the lesson, listening to Mrs. Lawson explain the assignment. They had to go in groups of four, and construct a speech on a teenage issue such as smoking.

Joan was relieved to hear the bell go. English was last period, so Joan was prepared to be gone in a blink of an eye. However, Sophie called her back. Joan met up with her friend, who was also with Elyse, and some other guy Joan had recognized from some of her other classes.

"Joan this is Jay. We're going to do our assignment together, so you wanna join us?" asked Elyse.

"Sure," said Joan.

"OK. Well we've already decided to go to your house. Jay lives out in the country, Sophie's parents are gong through a divorce and it's nasty," Joan looked over at Sophie, and she saw the pretty girl give a sad nod, "and I practically live at Sophie's because me and my parents, well, we don't get on," finished Elyse.

Joan felt perplexed by the whole situation. She had had no say in anything. She thought it was a bit rude for them just to expect that Joan would be OK with the entire situation. Joan wasn't. She hadn't told them that her brother was a paraplegic, and that could be a huge shock to them, and just at lunch time Joan had heard Elyse and Sophie talk about that wierd nerdy guy who had just started at Arcadia High, and Joan wasn't suprised to hear it was Luke. She still hadn't told them that she and Luke were related.

But then Joan thought about the good thing that could come from it. At last she could admit that Luke was her brother, and Kevin was a paraplegic.

"OK, I'm sure that'll be fine. But come over on Thursday afternoon. I have detention tomorrow,"

"Cool as Joan," chorused the other three, as they headed to the school doors.

Joan sighed and left to go home. It had been a hard day. 


End file.
